Baby Shower Macarons for i am baker

French macarons are meringue-like almond cookies that are filled with jams, buttercream or ganache. They come in several different flavors, and macarons happen to be the perfect virtual baby shower treat for my dear friend Amanda from {i am baker}.
Lately I feel as though there must truly be something in the water, such is the number of pregnant friends I have. However, in just seven short days one of them will no longer be pregnant. Instead, she’ll join the ranks of “other moms with four children” I happen to have the pleasure of knowing, a title that is not as common as pregnant women, but ever growing and just as divine.

If you haven’t already wandered across Amanda’s blog, {i am baker}, you should visit and visit often. Her creative cakes and baked goods are enough to make you come back for more, but even sweeter still is Amanda herself. This soon-to-be mom-of-four recently opened her kitchen to gift cookies to someone who could use a touching gift, and when she received 165 stories, all equally deserving of a random act of kindness, Amanda reached out to the blog community to fill each one of those requests. It takes a special kind of woman to volunteer to make five cookie orders just two weeks before her fourth baby is to arrive.

So today, just one week before her baby is due, a group of blogging friends whom I’m honored to know are all throwing our sweet friend Amanda a virtual baby shower and shower her with treats and sweets. When considering what to gift to someone who can do wonders with cake and frosting, I decided I’d steer clear of decorating, but chose to tackle the French macaron instead.

First, I decided to weigh all the ingredients. I found far more recipes using weight measurements, and I wanted to try Helene’s master macaron recipe. I know several people who have had success with it, and it gave me a good excuse to click around her site for a few hours reading and gazing.

Into the food processor place powdered sugar, almond flour and the seeds of one medium-sized vanilla bean. (If you have the extra large beans, just use half for this.)
Add them all to the food processor and give it a whirl until it’s nice and smooth. You can also use blanched or slivered almonds, and you’ll want to do the same thing, only there will be more whirling.
I left egg whites out overnight. You can whip more air into them that way, and you’ll get better results. It took me until Friday to decide what I was making, or I would have left them out longer. Overnight seemed to work just fine, though. You’ll also need a small amount of granulated sugar.
Add the egg whites only to a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment and beat until foamy. Helene says like a bubble bath, so I pretended that I’d had a bubble bath recently and could remember what those bubbles would look like.
Add in the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, but be very, very careful not to over-beat your egg whites, as it can cause your shells to crack when they bake.
Next, fold the almond mixture into the egg whites.
You want to fold until you reach a consistency that will fall back. I tested this by pulling my spoon out and then counting to ten to see if the dough would recede and the spot where I pulled the spoon from would disappear. (Note: Helene says no more than 50 folds to achieve this.)
Fill a large pastry bag with the mixture. I used one with a reinforced tip, but a jumbo round tip would have worked even better if you have one.
Pipe 1″-1.5″ circles onto baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Then clean up the mess in the kitchen and let those sit. Allowing them to sit for a while will help a crust layer to form. After they’ve been resting, preheat the oven to 280° F and bake.
While your macaron shells cool, prepare your filling. I made a blueberry mascarpone filling for these. I like how it’s not too sweet and balances out the sweetness of the cookie. Plus, it’s easy to make. Just a bit of mascarpone and a bit of blueberry preserves and we’re ready to fill.
I just gently spread my filling onto one macaron and topped it with another, pressing ever so lightly to get them to stay.
And while I was filling, my baby decided he wanted to come help.
Really, though, Magnus just wanted to demonstrate how to shotgun a macaron.
While it goes without saying, Amanda, before you know it, your baby will be all grown up and big, too. Then I’ll send Magnus over to teach him a thing or two about food and how to properly (and politely) eat it. Ahem. Enjoy the next few months and cherish that sweet-smelling head and those tiny cries. I can’t wait to see your new addition!

Place powdered sugar, almonds and vanilla bean seeds into a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Set aside. In a mixer with a whisk attachment, place egg whites and beat until foamy. Add in granulated sugar and continue beating until the mixture has peaks and represents a shiny shaving cream consistency. Be careful not to over-beat the egg whites. Add the ground almond mixture to the egg whites and fold to combine until the batter when the spoon is lifted out, recedes back into itself within 10 seconds, using no more than 50 strokes.

Fill a large piping bag with a large or extra large round piping tip. Pinch the end when filling so the batter does not run out. Pipe small circles approximately 1″ to 1.5″ in diameter onto baking sheets lined with silicone baking sheets or parchment. Allow the circles to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 280° F. Bake for 15-20 minutes until shells are cooked through and dry to a light touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cook on the pan for 10 minutes before trying to remove. If shells are not to be filled immediately, store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

Filling:
4 ounces mascarpone
2 tablespoons blueberry preserves

Mix together the mascarpone and preserves until smooth. When the macaron shells are cool, spread or pipe a small amount of filling on one shell and carefully sandwich together. Allow to rest in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to eat.

Ahahahahaha. Seriously, this line just about made me fall over laughing: “Really, though, Magnus just wanted to demonstrate how to shotgun a macaron.” Good on ya, Magnus. You’re a smart boy and you know just exactly what a great baker your momma is.

Shaina darling, i BOW to you, BOW to you . . . macarons? with your own babies in the house??? and seriously, HOW CUTE IS YOUR LITTLE MAN??!!!!! can i just borrow him for a bit? oh and can i ‘borrow’ a few of those macarons too???

Thanks for the great recipe and tutorial! I’ll have to try it. I feel like macarons are the new cupcake, which is great! I’d love for you to submit this to the M&T Spotlight at http://www.makeandtakes.com/spotlight

I have not seen you make these before, Barbara! Have you? You didn’t say… and they are gorgeous. The winning photos, of course, and Magnus devouring the precious little dainty. SO adorable. These need to be framed and up in your kitchen (but, I know you have other children, sigh)
Lovely lovely macarons – and lucky dear blogging friend to have such an incredible shower thrown for her!
🙂
Valerie

Beautiful macarons and I don’t doubt that they are just as scrumptious as they are lovely! I love your idea for the virtual baby shower! I am visiting via Mingle Monday! Nice to meet you!
Best Wishes and Blessings,
Amanda

[…] they still taste delicious. But while I had everything out, I wanted to try again. So I texted Shaina and Amanda a picture and asked for help!! Apparently I had whipped my egg whites too long, they […]

Hello, I'm Shaina. Food for My Family is where I share recipes, tips, opinions, and my philosophy on food as Ole and I strive to teach our four children how to eat well: seasonally, locally, organically, deliciously, and balanced. [Read more...]

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Hi, I am Shaina Olmanson. I am a work-at-home mom of four, feeding my family and my friends one plate at a time. I share recipes, tips, opinions and my philosophy on food as I strive to teach my four children how to eat well: seasonally, locally, organically, deliciously and balanced.